Sarzonia Addresses Health Care Improvements (Invite Only)

[Sarzonia]

[OOC: As with all my roleplays, this one is mostly closed with a few caveats. In this particular case, Pacitalia and Delaclava are explicitly invited to join.

As always, if you're interested in participating in this RP, please send me a telegram.]

Grant Haffner wasn't a huge hockey fan, but the story about Sarzonian national hockey team goalie Jacob Parsons and his battles with depression got his attention. He'd read the news accounts about the morning of the match against Siovanija and Teusland when Parsons couldn't get out of bed. He'd heard the story about the crying jag prior to the match against Vangaziland. He'd heard about the mental health facilities in Kelssek, and even the dig by a Kelssekian security guard about Sarzonia's health care system.

He stopped Surgeon General Linda Carswell on the way to a press briefing.

"Linda," he said, noting the quick glower in her face at not being called Dr. Carswell, until she realised that it was the President of the Incorporated States who was addressing her. Clearly, he had the authority to address her as Linda.

"Yes, Mr. President?"

"Did you hear the story about Jacob Parsons?"

"Who the hell is that?" Carswell knew nothing about sports and didn't have the least interest in small talk about sports, least of all hockey.

"I'm late to a press briefing. What about him?"

"He's the goalie on the Sarzonian hockey team," Haffner said before he caught the annoyed glance from Carswell that said, "you've got to be kidding."

"He's had public mental health challenges, including not being about to get out of bed before a critical game in the World Cup of Hockey." The annoyed glare suddenly snapped into a wide eyed look of concern and a countenance that now screamed, "I'm listening!" A discussion about mental health? That was worth being late to a press briefing, even though technically she wasn't late.

"Go on."

"He also had a crying fit or crying jag as the team calls it before their last game."

"Anything wrong?"

"I just told you," Haffner said, now becoming the one trying to maintain his patience. "He has depression. You of all people should know that depression isn't necessarily caused by a specific event."

"That's true," Carswell said. "Anyway, what do we do from here?"

"I'm going to call a press conference today in which I'm going to push for Sarzonia to establish universal health care, including a stronger focus on mental health. I want you to contact other surgeons general around the multiverse and get feedback from them about how to implement such a plan here."

"That's going to take some doing. I don't know if Parliament's going to get behind universal health care. You know the Conservatives are eager to paint you as a bloody socialist. And the election's coming up this November. You might lose a few votes from people who decry socialised medicine."

"Fuck that," Haffner said. "I'm convinced if people see that they won't have to pay for their health care and it'll provide better outcomes in the long run that they'll get behind this."

"That's easy for you to say," Carswell said. "I'm willing to put in a few calls, but I don't know if we're going to be able to convince Sarzonians to get behind this."

Haffner's eyes narrowed for a moment. His eyebrows furrowed and he caught himself before he looked too evil.

"We're one of the few developed countries in the world without universal health care. Even providing an insurer of last resort doesn't help the poorest Sarzonians. We need to do better by all our citizens. It's up to you to make that happen. Let's do it."

With doubt creeping n her mind, Carswell briefly shook her head as she saw Haffner walk back toward the Gray House and then she resumed her path to the press room. After the briefing, she would then get on the phone, first to her Pacitalian counterpart.

[Pacitalia]

Pacitalia's chief medical officer beelined through Terminal 11 at Timiocato Santo Ragazzo International Airport just after seven on a Saturday morning, her heels clicking methodically as she walked. The glossy tile floor underfoot, made from Thassos marble, gleamed like a set of whitened teeth. Shard-like rays of dawn sun pierced through the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the east side of the terminal, cloaking the hundreds of groggy, bleary-eyed travellers in a clementine-coloured light.

Dr Amara Moretta was returning from an exhausting week-long healthcare conference in Kelssek, where she had been a keynote speaker. She was wearing clothes meant for the climate of another country not her own, and could already notice the background humidity that cloaked the Pacitalian capital ten months of the year. Besides those sapphire patent-leather closed-toe heels tapping the tile, she wore a flannel pencil skirt and a flowy wool cape over a slim-fitting white blouse, accessorized with her nonna's chain necklace, a set of clinky pewter bracelets, and her twenty-year-old DeLaurentis Submariner wristwatch. Dignified, well-appointed, but not flashy — typical of a medical doctor playing the role of a civil servant. Either way, the clothes didn't fit the destination, and if she couldn't change into lighter clothes, she would need to at least shed a layer to keep from perspiring. She kept a lookout for the WC, but the back of her mind urged her toward the cafe a few paces away for that first cup of morning coffee.

It had been a long journey back from Neorvins. First, a ninety-minute ride on the Velocit high-speed train back to Kirkenes, then a brief connection at Malton airport to catch the flight back to Timiocato. Even in business class, with one of those semi-private pods with the reclining seats, and the service standards of an AeroPacitalia flight, Dr Moretta had struggled to get comfortable. She'd cobbled together a couple of hours of sleep here and there but otherwise had to occupy the fifteen-plus hours in the air by lying on her side staring at the wall of the pod, or boring herself with movies she didn't care much to watch. All together, upon landing back in Timiocato, she had been travelling for almost an entire day.

As was now common, the flight path had detoured to the east, around the radioactive "exclusion zone" that enveloped the former nations of Sorthern Northland and Tachbe. Those irradiated lands, located in northwestern Atlantian Oceania, would still be uninhabitable for at least another two hundred and fifty to three hundred years, resulting in an unprecedented level of regional interagency and government coordination. Management of the fallout was a public health emergency that the nations of the region had been contending with since the middle of the last decade. Calling it a major headache would be a massive understatement.

The subtle voice in her head willing her toward the espresso machine won the battle and she turned on her heel to approach the counter. She managed a wan smile, fished a one-doura note and some coins out of her wallet and laid it on the black quartz counter, ordering a cortado from the barista. Then, suddenly aware of her feet swelling in those leather heels, she shuffled to the pick-up counter, where a couple of other passengers were already waiting for takeaway orders, or socializing pre-flight, drinking latti from glasses wrapped in paper napkins.

While she waited for her coffee to be ready, she pulled out her foxPhone and began scrolling through news headlines. Even though business class passengers always had free wi-fi, she liked to make a point of using the time in the air to disconnect, so she'd been off-grid. Meandering through the latest stories in the feed, a headline about a Sarzonian hockey player's public struggles with depression caught her eye; she immediately stopped scrolling and tapped her screen to pull up the full article from SNN. Dr Moretta instantly noticed that odd tingly feeling of coincidence, given the coverage was directly related to the World Cup of Hockey, underway in Kelssek at the same time as the medical conference.

The reporter made mention of the player, the starting goaltender, Jacob Parsons, whose name she recognized; he had been open about his battles with depression in the past. Parsons was in the international sport media's spotlight again, having suffered some sort of psychological episode before a match. The news seemed to be making a big deal of the fact that some security guard at the World Cup had been openly poking fun at both his “breakdown” and the lack of universal health care in Sarzonia, provoking outrage among Parsons' teammates and Sarzonians back home. Even though the Overton window had been shifting in Sarzonia in recent years, the Incorporated States remained one of the few developed countries without a universal health care system, and it was frequently a topic people from other countries enjoyed pointing out at Sarzonians’ expense. An international incident looked to be brewing faster than Dr Moretta's espresso.

She rolled her eyes and put her phone away just as the barista handed her a small paper cup. She smiled lovingly at the double shot of chocolaty, extra-dark Fincasso topped with a few splashes of equal parts steamed full-fat and condensed milk. The cortado really is the ideal coffee, she thought to herself. The right proportions of everything. No need to add any sugar. She took a long draught of the coffee and felt instantly re-energized, and her mind turned back to the search for a toilet. However, the five or so minutes she had spent grabbing her cortado caused her to start to sweat in spite of the air conditioning, and she was beginning to feel warm dampness in her underarms. Rather than deal with the embarrassment of an exposed white shirt with armpit stains, she set out in search of the terminal exit, where a car was waiting to drive her back to her flat near Piazza 21. Novembra.

The early-morning air outside the terminal was tepid, yet to have any of the warmth typical of early spring in Timiocato. Stepping into the black, government-issue Peruzzi P7 sedan at curbside, she was hit with a blast of frigid air from the vents in the car and shivered reflexively. Before the driver had even pulled away from the curb, her phone began to buzz from an incoming call. She fumbled through her purse for the device and pulled it out, seeing the call was from her deputy, Dr Alexándros Kourakis. She swiped the green circle on the screen to the right to answer and put the phone to her ear. “Alex?”

As usual, Dr Kourakis, speaking in his trademark staccato voice, went straight to business. No small talk. “Have you looked at your email?”

“No, I just landed,” Dr Moretta replied, suppressing another yawn. “How did you know I was already back in Pacitalia?”

“I’m already in the office. We’re tracking your flight.”

She chose not to respond to the second sentence, understanding that they would only want to know when she was on the ground because there was some matter of importance to discuss, and skipped straight to the reason for the call. “What’s the email about?”

“I just got off a 45-minute phone call with the Sarzonian surgeon general.”

Dr Moretta’s brow furrowed. “Dr Carswell? On a Saturday morning? This early? What did she want?” Ever the doctor, her mind flashed through images of a new pandemic or some other sort of public health crisis that would justify an unscheduled telephone conversation of that length on a weekend.

“Well, she was looking to speak to you, not realizing you were at the conference in Neorvins. I told her we would let you know she was trying to get a hold of you. She is hoping to have a call next week sometime.”

“About what, Alex?” she replied, a bit more harshly than she intended, though excusable given the hour and her creeping fatigue.


“It’s pretty big news but she asked for confidentiality at this point. Sarzonia looks like it’s going to finally pull the trigger on universal health care. The Parsons story must have been the catalyst. President Haffner is apparently going to speak publicly calling for it to happen, and, from the sounds of it, he’s ready to give the Sarzonian public service carte blanche to get it done.”

Dr Moretta was nonplussed. “Wow. Okay, I get where she is coming from. We’ll keep it internal at PHSA for now. Who else knows about your conversation?”

“Only two others. Dr Roncero, because we are legally obligated to notify him, and Demetrios Andreadis.”

Again, the furrowed brow. “Telling the health minister makes sense but why the defence minister?”



“Well, as you know, he’s also responsible for Special Services. Dr Roncero says if we’re going to help the Sarzonians, we’re going to need authorization to share public health data with Woodstock because we have to avoid violating Personal Data Confidentiality and Privacy Protection regulations. Even sharing overarching health outcomes is considered to be too detailed in scope so it requires the exemption. He’s one of only three executive officials who can provide that clearance.”

“Fine. Let me call Dr Carswell’s office now. If I know Linda well enough, I know she wouldn’t be calling on a Saturday if it wasn’t important for her to get started right away. This is big news. I’m sure she’s equal parts excited and terrified at the moment. She should know we’re here to support her. Did she reach out to anyone else besides us?”

“Like other countries? Not that I know of,” Dr Kourakis replied after a two-second pause. “Talk to you later. Go home and get some rest.”

Dr Moretta made a mental note to check in discreetly with her counterparts in other countries, ones she thought Woodstock would be likely to reach out to, out of curiosity.

“Will do,” she said curtly. “Bye.”

She clicked the end call button, put her phone in her lap and stared out the tinted window watching the hefty date palms along the side of the highway move gently in the ocean breeze. Pacitalia had only had universal health care for a decade and change, so she was intrigued that Dr Carswell would reach out to her, even just assuming it was for advice. As chief medical officer who firmly believed in public health care delivery, she was fortunate to have unconditional support in Timiocato, with a left-wing government and a socialist Prime Minister. On the other hand, she was very familiar with the fact that Sarzonia had flirted with universal health care many times in the past, with years of public discourse amounting to nothing because of obstructionist conservatives in parliament.

Many politicians in Sarzonia had ties, open or otherwise, to private health providers and insurance companies, who had a vested interest in ensuring health care was never nationalized. This was one of the big reasons why universal health care had never materialized. The health lobby in Sarzonia was the stuff of legends. And Grant Haffner was a moderate, not exactly the person one would see as first in line to pump up a socialized medicine scheme. But if this really was about to happen, he would be the first president brave enough to put his political capital on the line to achieve a universal system.

Dr Moretta was skeptical as always, given her previous conversations with Dr Carswell on the topic. Any time she’d broached the subject of Sarzonia adopting public health care in face-to-face meetings, Linda had always met her gaze with a facial expression that made her look as if she was being held hostage. She was not one-hundred percent sure of where her Sarzonian counterpart personally stood on the idea of a public scheme, but she knew Linda was one to consult a swathe of other physicians when making professional decisions. Dr Moretta also remembered that recent surveys of both the Sarzonian College of Health Practitioners showed the medical profession favoured a universal system, and Dr Carswell would listen to that consensus.

Damn, she thought to herself. They might actually pull this off.

[Sarzonia]

[OOC: These events are set prior to the introduction of the SARS 2 novel Coronavirus outbreak, which likely will lead to the emergency declaration referenced below.]

While Carswell was tasked with calling various contacts in allied countries to seek feedback from them on implementing universal health care in a Sarzonia that was otherwise loath to consider such an idea, Haffner's job was at once much easier and more complicated.

He had to make the pitch to the Sarzonian people that ending the days of private insurance with its myriad of red tape that was all too reminiscent of the country they left behind some 16 years ago was a better prospect.

He had to convince Parliament that the insurance lobby, one that greatly benefited from the status quo, would have to be taken down a few pegs, in much the same way as various religions and the gun lobby were during late President Mike Sarzo's tenure.

Haffner made a career out of talking to various foreign heads of state and foreign ministers and convincing them to operate in a way that benefited Sarzonian interests as Senior Vice President and External Affairs Officer. He marked his tenure as President setting himself apart from Sarzo and dispelling the notion that he was merely Sarzo lite.

Now, however, he had the task of borrowing a page from Sarzo's playbook with a powerful lobby. He didn't have the luxury of declaring a state of emergency, which would give him and the Executive Office of the President expansive powers. He could suspend the law Parliament passed as part of a budget agreement Sarzo signed to avert a government shutdown just as Sarzonia emerged from the Panic of 2006.

But with barely the earliest word of a new, worrisome and potentially fatal virus coming from The Sherpa Empire, Haffner knew that the worst case scenario could give him the authority to invoke the kind of wartime powers that could render many of the potential roadblocks moot.

He looked at his deputy press secretary Gordon Hackett as he prepared to announce Haffner's entrance.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the Incorporated States."

Haffner walked in and stepped up to the lectern.

"Good morning. I'm sure by now you've heard what happened over in Kelssek with Sarzonia goalie Jacob Parsons," he began. "The ready availability of mental health care facilities and the low price tag for those services truly underscores the problem with our health care system here in Sarzonia.

"Mental health care does not receive a significant amount of the overall health care budget, but money alone doesn't solve the problem. Our problem begins with a lack of education into mental health and continues through stigmas associated with seeking help for mental health issues.

"I don't have to remind anyone of what happened with national team manager Bryan Ostrom," Haffner continued. "His tragic suicide didn't have to happen. His loss underscores a painful reality that far too many people don't talk about their problems because they're too ashamed to.

"Even worse, over the course of the past three months, I have spoken with constituents who have expressed concern that they can't afford treatment for mental health. In s country with as strong an economy as ours, it is unconscionable that we leave any Sarzonian behind.

"Therefore, I am directing Surgeon General Dr. Linda Carswell to contact aligned countries with existing universal health care and those who have insight into eliminating the roadblocks that have kept us from full universal health care in our country so th hat we can present a comprehensive solution to ensure that every Sarzonian can live free from the worry about not being able to afford surgery, free from worrying about the choice of paying for lifesaving prescription drugs, and free from the stigmas and the costs associated with seeking mental health treatment. I'll open the floor for questions. OK, Tracee [Schultz, a reporter from the Corcorran (Sarzonian) Courier]."

"Mr. President, you talked about committing more resources toward universal health care and adding emphasis to mental health. How do you propose we pay for all that? Surely it's going to increase the tax burden."

Haffner smiled momentarily, then nodded.

"The details will be worked out and will be released once we're ready to introduce the plan in Parliament, but yes, it will cause a modest increase in taxes. The benefits, however, will more than offset the costs. You won't have to worry about deductibles. No more co-pays. No more out-of-pocket costs."

"Mr. President!"

"Yes, Clyde [Barlow, a reporter from SNN]?"

"Mr. President, what do you propose to do with Knight-Hollings?"

Haffner nodded his head. The Knight-Hollings amendment to a fiscal year 2006 spending bill allowed individual insurance companies to make a profit. It was included in a bill that averted a partial government shutdown that would have stunted the nation's recovery from a war with Generia.

"We're going to explore options including a repeal of the amendment," Haffner said. "We're going to look at ways to weaken the provisions and strengthen our hand. Yes, Travis?"

"Mr. President, the insurance lobby remains one of the most powerful in the country, and they will likely attack this as," Travis West of The Woodstock Daily Mail said, before beginning to look through his notes. Haffner knew West long enough to know where he was going.

"Socialized medicine?"

"I, uh, was going to say socialism, but," he said.

Haffner nodded.

"To answer the first question, I intend to make this case to the Sarzonian people that this is a programme that will benefit all Sarzonians, and that not having to worry about insurance premiums will be better in the long run," Haffner said. "As for your other point, there's a huge gulf between the brand of socialism that destroys individuality or 'national socialism,' which is Nazism, and democratic socialism, which this programme is. This is intended to ensure that no Sarzonian ever has to go without lifesaving care.

"That's all the time I have. Thank you all."

After Haffner made it back to his private office, he penciled in time to discuss progress with Carswell.

[Sarzonia]

To say the news reports about the rapid spread of the SARS 2 novel Coronavirus and its devastating effects on the people who fell victim to it horrified Haffner was an understatement.

The state of Benatar, the location of Sarzonia's largest city and cultural capital Nicksia studiously avoided implementing any restrictions and he downplayed it as "a simple cold." Haffner still fumed over his conversation with Benatar Gov. Pete Dent (Conservative) in which Haffner bluntly asked him to impose a shelter in place order for his citizens.

"You can't make me shut down my state over a simple cold," he remembered Dent saying. Portland implemented a mask "advisory" and encouraged its citizens to social distance, but the compliance rate was well under the 60 percent threshold Portland was hoping for.

Woodstock Mayor Claudia Alta implemented the strong protocols so far, requiring masks unless someone had a doctor's note exempting them and implementing social distancing requirements. With The Palestra getting ready to host the Cyanea Tipoff Classic against Delaclava and home games against both Xanneria and Valanora, Alta ordered the arena to be empty of everyone but players, coaches, media, and team personnel.

Haffner was beginning to notice criticism that he hadn't yet announced a formal national policy on the viral outbreak that had already taken the lives of 900 Sarzonians.

He remembered his conversation with Dent, plus a conversation earlier that morning with Dr. Carswell about the need for a national response to the outbreak. His office phone rang. He looked at the number and realised it was Dr. Christine Hunt, the director of Sarzonia's infectious diseases research group. He answered the phone and noted the urgency with which Dr. Hunt asked him to implement stay at home orders.

"I can't really do that without an emergency declaration, Dr. Hunt," he said.

"Then declare a public health emergency," Hunt said. "I may not be a law expert, but my law advisors tell me you can implement a lot of necessary measures with an emergency declaration. Haffner nodded for a moment. She was right. Declaring a public health emergency would be akin to implementing the Wartime Powers Act. It would give Haffner extraordinary powers, but Haffner knew these were extraordinary times.

He also realised that, with it appearing likely that Parliament would kill his proposal for universal health care in committee without the means to take his case to the voters directly, he could impose his proposal for universal health care as a tenet of the emergency declaration. He also thought back to his conversation with Dent. He knew Pete would bitch about executive overreach, but he didn't fucking care.

He called the Press Secretary's office to schedule a press conference for 1830 hours that night. He'd already put the finishing touches on the emergency declaration and he knew it was time for urgent action.

Finally, after the heard, "Attention everyone, the President of the Incorporated States of Sarzonia, Mr. Grant Haffner," he knew there was no turning back. Sarzonia was about to get a unified national policy on dealing with this pandemic whether they liked it or not.

He walked out to the dais.

"Hello. In light of the escalating cases of the SARS 2 novel Coronavirus and the severity of many of the cases, I am announcing the following measures.

"One, I am invoking the Wartime Powers Act and declaring a state of emergency. More specifically, I am announcing that the outbreak of this virus is being declared a public health emergency. Therefore, I am directing the production of masks and other personal protection equipment be placed on a wartime priority and I am directing all companies who feasibly can produce PPE to do so as first priority.

"Two, I am directing all non-essential businesses to close their doors effective at 1700 hours tomorrow. Essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and hospitals are instructed to remain open with social distancing protocols in place. In addition, all domestic sport events are hereby suspended until further notice. Sporting competitions involving Sarzonian national teams will be allowed to take place without fans in the stands. In addition, anyone who has reason to leave their homes must wear masks except for any child under age 2. Also, social distancing restrictions will be mandatory nationwide.

"Three, I am announcing that the Incorporated Sarzonian Government will send a one-time payment of $2,500 to all citizens, including undocumented immigrants. We will also send monthly payments of the same amount to every Sarzonian until six months after the declared end of this national health emergency.

"Four, I am implementing a moratorium on collecting rent, rent or mortgage increases and evictions for a period of time that will last until one year after the declared end of the public health emergency. I have been in contact with Parliament to work on details of relief efforts for smaller landlords who can't easily afford to forego rent from their tenants.

"Five, I am implementing as part of this emergency executive action the provisions of my proposed legislation for universal health care effective immediately. No Sarzonian should go without essential health care during a pandemic.

"I am directing every state and local jurisdiction within Sarzonia to adhere to the provisions outlined here. It is incumbent upon all of us to look out for each other during this extraordinary time in our nation's history.

"I'm not taking questions. Thank you."

Haffner knew he would eventually face the questions about executive overreach, but he was willing to live with the consequences.

[Sarzonia]

The best way to describe Dent's reaction to Haffner's speech would be that he hit the roof.

The decision about whether or not Benatarans would be required to wear masks was now out of his hands. Sarzonia as a whole was about to shut down. The directives from Haffner were flying out almost as fast as the Gray House could send them out.

Restaurants closed except for curbside pickup and contactless delivery. Pharmacies, grocery stores and other businesses deemed essential would be open with reduced hours, social distancing restrictions and mask requirements.

People who didn't have to leave the house were prohibited except for things like essential errands, though that list also included walking pets and exercise. People who lost jobs as a result of the pandemic would be eligible for unemployment insurance on top of the universal basic income being implemented by Haffner's orders.

After Dent finished reading the executive order and the additional guidance sent by the Gray House, he immediately called Haffner and began screaming.

"You have no fucking right to do this! It's executive overreach!" was among the things Dent screamed. After that, however, Haffner stopped him.

"Go read the Wartime Powers Act, Pete," Haffner said. "I've already run this by Parliament. Thousands of people are already sick and hundreds have died from this. This isn't a simple cold."

"You're seriously going to do this? This is dictatorial!"

"I'm taking measures to protect the entire population of Sarzonia including the residents of your state," Haffner said. "These are extraordinary measures, but these are extraordinary threats that could cost hundreds of thousands of lives if we don't take unified action now."

Dent slammed the phone on the receiver and then called his solicitor general to ask to file an emergency injunction to block Haffner. If he'd not been blinded by rage, he might have understood how unrealistic the chances that even a magistrate judge would issue such an injunction.

As for the directives, further details began to emerge, including a need for doctors notice mandating that a person be exempt from the mask requirements and be permitted to leave the house. People who refused to cooperate would be prohibited from leaving their houses.

Non violent offenders who weren't already released from prisons would be released on probation, leaving room for the most hardened offenders. Deliberately coughing or sneezing on someone or assaulting someone for enforcing mask requirements was Class 1 assault (OOC: equivalent to first degree).

The news was about to get even worse for Dent.

[Sarzonia]

Three days after Dent tried to file for an injunction to block Haffner's mask mandate and other emergency measures was the start of everything going wrong for the Conservative governor.

First, a magistrate judge declined to issue an injunction blocking the legislation, saying in their order "it is in the national interest to get control over the pandemic and preserve lives and public health." A district court judge also declined to intervene, citing "a documented public health emergency" that covered the need to impose drastic measures.

Third, he developed a ragged cough.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said to his wife Madeline. "Just a simple cold." Four days later, the cough didn't go away. In fact, it was soon accompanied by chills and fatigue. He shrugged off the symptoms and insisted on going out to eat with Madeline at his favourite restaurant in downtown Nicksia. She refused.

"Pete, the restaurant is only open for curbside pickup and delivery. Besides, even if it were open, I don't want you getting me or the restaurant staff sick!"

Finally, Dent relented and had his staff pick up an order of lobster. He grabbed his fork and picked up a morsel of lobster, expecting the familiar smell he'd grown to love since he was a child. However... nothing. He shrugged. Probably just this cold, he thought. He took a bite. No taste whatsoever. He dipped it in the packet of melted butter. Again, no taste.

He muttered under his breath and soon finished his meal. Nothing tasted like he thought it would. Like it always had.

He walked back to his office in the governor's mansion, then he saw the notice. The Third Circuit issued an en banc ruling rejecting his lawsuit to block Haffner's emergency declaration.

"Dammit, send it to the Supreme Judiciary Court!" he yelled.

"It doesn't stand a chance there," Nicksia state's attorney Clyde Faulkner said. "Haffner's packed the court with Moderates. Plus, the Chief Justice is a leftover from the Sarzo administration."

"I don't give a fuck!" he bellowed before launching into a coughing fit like he'd never experienced in his life. After about 20 seconds of coughing, he suddenly wheezed. He looked in the mirror, horrified.

He called Madeline.

"Maddy, I'm having trouble breathing! This is fucking serious!" Madeline rolled her eyes, but humoured her husband and called 911. The ambulance ended up having to take him to Nicksia General Hospital and admit the governor to the SARS2 ward. The doctors did an assessment and realised they had to put Dent on a ventilator. Dent motioned for Madeline to come over before the staff hooked him up.

"Maddy, whatever you do, don't let that fucker Joyce take over as governor," he said. Joyce Wagner was the state's lieutenant governor, and even though she was part of the same party as Dent, she was derided by the party's extreme as Conservative In Name Only because she tried repeatedly to reach across the aisle and find common ground with members of both the Moderate and Progressive Parties when she was in the state legislature and when she was an acting Delegate in Parliament. She also argued repeatedly with Dent over his refusal to implement restrictions that forced President Haffner's hand.

"I can't do that, Pete. You know that," Madeline said. "I've got to contact lieutenant governor Wagner."

"She'll invoke Article 29," Dent said, referring to the article in the Benatar state constitution that allowed the lieutenant governor to convene the state cabinet and temporarily declare Dent unfit for the office. Pretty soon, any attempts to protest by Dent were shuttered by the ventilator being applied. Upset, Madeline walked out to the lobby and placed the call to Wagner.

"Joyce, it's Madeline," Madeline Dent said. "Pete's in hospital. He's been hooked up to a ventilator. The doctors are running tests, but they strongly suspect he has the virus."

Joyce then immediately texted the Cabinet officials to meet up in the conference room in the basement of the governor's mansion. They voted unanimously to invoke Article 29 and name Wagner acting governor. She then issued a press conference announcing that Dent was in hospital. Meanwhile, the state's House of Burgesses announced they were to begin hearings on possible articles of impeachment against Dent.

Two days later, the talk of what to do about Dent would be moot.

He was pronounced dead just six hours after Nicksia General Hospital Deputy Administrator Clayton Guise confirmed to national media that Dent was diagnosed with SARS 2.

[Sarzonia]

Joyce Wagner got the phone call from Madeline Dent almost immediately after the attending physician Geoffrey Hurt told her, "he's dead" as of 7:18 p.m. Sarzonian time.

"Madeline, my condolences on your loss," Wagner said.

"No, it's fine," Madeline Dent said, drawing a curious eyebrow raise from the soon-to-be-sworn in governor of Benatar. She barely concealed her sense of anger toward her husband for his attitude about the SARS 2 novel Coronavirus and the effects it was having on the population of the state. Unlike, say, Amelia Bello, wife of the late Carmine Bello, the shipping magnate and would-be archonate of Pacitalia, Madeline Dent was not merely a silent, complicitious partner in her husband's handling of the pandemic. She butted heads with him often, much to the chagrin of the members of the Conservative Party who repeatedly urged her not to file for divorce, even though she and he were living in separate parts of the governor's mansion by that point.

"Madeline, you just lost your husband," Wagner said. She did not have a close relationship with her boss. In fact, she was the fourth choice to serve as lieutenant governor after her predecessor in that role resigned to run for Parliament. The first three choices Dent made when he tried to nominate a replacement for him all failed to pass the House of Burgesses. He had to swallow his pride and choose a "CINO," as he derisively referred to Wagner, in order to make it past the Moderate and Progressive Parties that held sway in the House and the Senate. She'd tried multiple times to encourage Dent to adopt her policy of working across the various aisles to get legislation done, even if it wasn't exactly what he'd envisioned the state, and they were often at each other's throats.

It was safe to say that if Dent were eligible to run for a third term, he would not have chosen Wagner to be his running mate. To be sure, Wagner would have wanted no part of Dent. As lieutenant governor, she was president of the state Senate and often voted to break ties. This led to her thwarting two pieces of legislation, including a massive tax cut for the wealthy that was projected to add $35 billion in debt to Benatar in violation of the state's balanced budget amendment. It also led her to kill a bill that would have blocked transgender people from using the bathrooms that corresponded to their gender identities and prevented transgender girls from competing in sport at any level.

Now, a much more "moderate" Conservative was about to become governor of the state. The powers-that-be in the Conservative Party all called on Wagner and demanded she resign so the Party could choose a "true Conservative" as their party leader in the state Senate. Had she resigned, the Speaker of the House would have had to convene both chambres of the Legislature to select a governor. Wagner refused. The Party leadership then voted to expel her from the Party, but she said she had more important things to deal with, like establishing criminal and civil penalties for violating state and local ordinances related to mask-wearing and social distancing requirements.

"We're in a national emergency," Wagner said in her speech after State Supreme Court Chief Justice Jordan Massey administered the oath of office in the basement of the governor's mansion. "Therefore, we as a state have to be on an emergency footing. We are at war with a virus that has already killed 5,800 Benatarans. The measures implemented by President Haffner may not all have been the wisest or the measures I myself would have implemented, but we have a national mandate to do everything we can to combat this virus. Therefore, I am implementing a mask mandate that does not allow for exceptions. Anyone who does not wear a mask will be quarantined at home or at various quarantine sites the state will set up for the purpose of keeping residents safe.

"Governor Wagner," came one question from the media, "what was your reaction to the Conservative Party expelling you today?"

She looked at the reporter askance, cocked an eyebrow and chuckled briefly.

"Who cares?"

[Sarzonia]

[OOC: Many of these events were backdated in March 2020 around the beginning of both the real life COVID-19 pandemic and the Sarzonian SARS 2 novel Coronavirus pandemic. This will be a recent post.]

President Haffner was now sitting with the Sarzonian Surgeon General Dr. Linda Carswell, along with the other figures at the head of Sarzonia's emergency response to the SARS 2 novel Coronavirus pandemic. The virus took the lives of 28,847 Sarzonians and left tens of thousands of people who suffered from long-term symptoms of the disease. That said nothing about the mental health toll on those who lost loved ones, friends, or acquaintances to the pandemic. That said nothing about the effects of isolation on millions of Sarzonians.

Now, the country had, by all measures seized control over the pandemic. The vaccines, both against the SARS 2 virus and COVID-19, including the SarVax that was exported to Pacitalia to help that country deal with their own pandemic, the social distancing mandates, the mask wearing requirements, and Haffner's declaration that only medical exceptions to compulsory vaccination would be allowed helped the country obtain herd immunity with a full 93.2 percent of the population fully vaccinated. Another 3.7 percent of the population finally received their second dose of the two-dose regimen and 1.3 percent received their first dose.

The now-permanent inclusions of universal basic income of $2,500 Sarzonian and so-called HaffnerCare, the universal health care implemented during the pandemic that Haffner was very careful to ensure remained even after the state of emergency would be lifted both made massive differences in the lives of Sarzonians. Granted, employees of health insurance providers were now seeking other employment, but some of them transitioned into the new national health service. Others found part-time work to supplement the universal basic income they were now getting on a permanent basis. The country also devoted more of its resources to mental health so people like Sarzonian ice hockey goalie Jacob Parsons didn't have to leave the country to obtain mental health care resources.

But one thing was missing from the general improvement of the daily quality of life. Namely, an official declaration of the end of the pandemic state of emergency that led to many of the Draconian measures Haffner implemented. He'd signed legislation that would allow the Wartime Powers Act to sunset permanently upon the official declaration of the end of the pandemic, but he was awaiting final word that such an end was medically safe. Finally, Dr. Christine Hunt, the director of Sarzonia's Infectious Diseases Research Group, raised her hand during the briefing.

"Mr. President?"

"Yes, Dr. Hunt?"

"I notice you haven't declared the end of the pandemic state of emergency," she said. "The pandemic's been over in the eyes of scientists for at least six months. We achieved herd immunity a while ago. There haven't been any significant variants of the virus and the vaccines protect against the ones that have developed."

Haffner studied his notes. He'd relaxed several of the restrictions and allowed states to soften their restrictions as well, but he hadn't formally announced the end of the pandemic state of emergency. At least not yet. Finally, just hours after he'd addressed the media sombrely in the wake of the resignation of Senior Vice President and External Affairs Officer Bryan Conway, he could stride to the podium with an air of triumph.

"My fellow Sarzonians, today brings news you all have been waiting for a long time to hear," he said. "The Incorporated Sarzonian Government, in consultation with medical and scientific experts, can officially and formally announce an end to the SARS 2 novel Coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying state of emergency.

"We will continue the universal basic income programme and tie increases in the amount provided to Sarzonians to the annual cost of living, including any increases due to inflation. In addition, the universal health care provisions initiated during the pandemic will remain permanently. Finally," he said, "the Wartime Powers Act will officially end as of now. Should the need arise for similar legislation, we will discuss that with Parliament with an eye toward ensuring individual liberties remain even in a state of war.

"I know none of this can bring back the lives lost or permanently altered during this pandemic," Haffner said. "We mourn with all who have lost someone they love and care about. Most of us have survived, many none the worse for wear, but let's remember those who didn't make it with love and let's move forward with a greater sense of unity as Sarzonians."